The Darkness Saga
'Chapter One: Trouble With Trolls ' Young Ophelia is fleeing her home in the Kingdom of Arendell when she is drawn into a quest to recover a lost caravan of supplies in the small town of Riverrun. Joining ranks with Scanlan; a roguish thieve, Tiberius; a scholarly wizard, Crow: a mysterious paladin and Nim; a gnome barbarian, Ophelia journeys to the base of the Sword Mountains where she uncovers the wreckage of the caravan and strange footprints leading into the hills. The group had only begun to follow these tracks when they were ambushed by goblins and the abominations they brought with them; strange creatures that were half animal, half monster. Following the path of these creatures to the dark caves they inhabited, they were further disturbed to find a dark cult within who was performing dark sacrafices and twisted experiments. Though Ophelia and her friends managed a successful assault against the group, their efforts to save the supplies were unsuccessful They only barely managed to save two surviving prisoners and a baby panther before the entire cave collapsed inwards, simulentaneously releasing a dark wave of magical energy and also freeing Riverrun from the dark magic's influence. Wtih heavy hearts, the group returned to Riverrun. Unfortunately, with winter fast approaching, it was not enough that they had broken the spell over the lands. At a loss for what to do to save the town, the group found a solution when Scanlan offered up his share of recovered treasure to cover the cost of more supplies. Of course, Scanlan's treasure wasn't the only piece recovered from the strange caves. In the heart of the cult's center, they had also discovered an idol of a demigorgan: a dark god fabled to have once covered the land in darkness. Chapter Two: Ophelia & Goliath Agreeing to remain together as far as the port city of Novigrad, Ophelia and her friends had only begun their journey when they were attacked by a group of assasins from The Veil. After managing to defeat her captors, Ophelia admitted the secret of her identity and betrothal to the prince of The Veil. Though initially reluctant to continue alongside her new companions for fear they would be hurt, she reluctantly agreed to stay at least as far as Novigrad. The fates, however, seemed to have different plans for them. The group had only begun to resume its long journey when they found the sad, burned remains of a town ransacked by monsters. Discovering that the town had suffered attack from a group of goliaths, Ophelia and her party volunteered to aid a Reddanian army in finding and killing the monsters. They travelled deep into the mountains, intent on revenge, until Tiberius began to suspect that the goliaths were more than they seemed. He pointed out the fairly advanced steps the goliaths had carved in the mountainside and aruged that this was unlikely to have been accomplished by a group of mindless monsters. Ophelia agreed with Tiberius and the two decided they would first scout out the goliaths and try to learn more about them. Their intentions were dashed, however, when the Reddanian scouts travelling with them attacked the goliaths without warning, starting a bloody fight. By the time Ophelia managed to bring the fighting to a stand still, blood had already been shed on both sides. In spite of this, the group's leader agreed to bring Ophelia and her party back to the goliath encampment where the goliath's chief would decide their fates. . After gaining audience with the chief, Ophelia and her friends were surprised to discover that the goliaths had been victims of Reddanian treachery. Having been promised peace from the Reddanians and some supplies, the goliaths had attempted to resason with the people in the village below but had instead been forced to take up arms to defend what was theirs. Eager to resolve the conflict with little bloodshed, Ophelia beseeched the chief to allow them to return to Oxenfurt to speak on behalf of their people. As a counteroffer, the chief agreed to allow one of Ophelia's party to return if they were victorious in a sacred tournament. Discovering the tournament to be little more than a peaceful challenge and a game, the group eagerly agreed to these terms and were surprisingly victorious.. In the midst of the festivities that followed and after much imbibing of wine, Scanlan and Ophelia shared a passionate kiss. Unfortunately, it would come to naught as in the morning when Ophelia discovered that Scanlan had no memory of the night's preceeding events. Quickly volunteering himself thereafter to journey back to town to talk down the Reddanian army, Scanlan left Ophelia on awkward terms. Fearing that the Reddanian army might be out for blood in spite of their efforts, Crow convinced Ophelia and her friends to join him in preparing the goliaths for the potential conflict ahead. Not long after, the group was disheartened to discover that their efforts had not been in vain. After the Reddanian commander arrived at the newly fortified village, carrying a tortured, bloodied Scanlan in tow, there was nothing to do but go to war to defend the goliaths Greatly outnumbered and outgunned, Ophelia and her friends nevertheless managed to rally the goliath forces and in a miraculous turn of events, led them to victory. Though they managed to secure the goliath's village, it came at the great cost of many lives. Unfortunately, this bittersweet victory was to be short lived as Heinrick confronted Ophelia shortly thereafter with a compelling offer. Either she remained with her new allies and he rode back to the capital to rouse the full force of a Reddanian army against hte goliaths or Ophelia returned with him as his prisoner. Knowing she had no choice but to try and do what she could to defend the lives of the goliaths, Ophelia agreed to become Heinrik's prisoner. Chapter Three: Ravens Over Redania After many weeks of travel, Ophelia and her captors arrived at the edge of Redania's capital where they encountered a bulette. Though it seemed Heinrik's group was doomed, they managed to defeat the monster with the help of Ophelia and a daring sellsword. Shortly afterwards, Ophelia was delivered to King Visemyr where she was offered fine courtesies and amenities alike by The Blessed King. In spite of this, Ophelia took few pains to conceal her disdain for the King, who had also called upon The Veil shortly after her capture. Ophelia did, however, find an unlikely ally in The King's son, Prince Tibult. Hearing of her plight, he offered to devise a plan to help Ophelia escape from the city and she eagerly accepted. Before their plan could be put into action, The Veil's court arrived and with it, Ophelia's betrothed; the handsome and charming Damasseus. Upon first setting eyes on her betrothed, Ophelia felt a strange connection with him which at once drew her in and set her on edge. Horrified by The Veil's influence over his kingdom, King Visemyr sought to erradicate them once and for all during a feast supposedly held in their honor. Ophelia disagreed with the King's plan, but found she had little choice but to go along. At the moment the plan was to be exacted, however, Ophelia had a change of heart and attempted to save Damasseus. She was unsuccessful, however, and the men of The Veil were slaughtered. Much to the horror of everyone there, however, the dead men rose again and exacted their revenge; slaughtering everyone at the feast, save for Ophelia, The King and Queen. After the King and Queen retreated to their chambers, Ophelia was forced to remain in the castle while Damasseus's powerful hold over her continued to grow. Though Ophelia continued to express her reservations about the marriage, she nevertheless turned down Tibult's final offer of escape and marriage and decided to remain with Damasseus feeling that she could one day come to love him. Whatever hopes Ophelia had, however, were irrevocably dashed when she later learned the truth of The Veil's plans and the reason for her betrothal. Discovering that The Veil planned to unleash a great darkness into the world which she would be spared from owing to her marriage, Ophelia bitterly confronted Damasseus and then escaped with the help of Tibult and the sellsword. They had not gone far, however, when Heinrik found and re-captuered Ophelia, also killing Tibult as punishment for her defiance. She was then taken back to the castle where the King, blaming her for everything that had befallen his Kingdom, threw her into the prisons below. After another bitter confrontation with Damasseus, Ophelia seemed hopelessly destined to await her fate; that is until Scanlan and Nim arrived to free her from her cell. After fleeing the castle, Ophelia found herself happily reunited with her friends plus Locag who had pledged himself to Ophelia after she had saved his town. After a brief but happy reunion, the group managed to find passage on a river schooner heading away from the city. Once safety seemed certain, Ophelia told her friends of The Veil's evil scheme. Desperate to save the world from its impending doom, the group formed a pact to stop The Veil and eventually agreed that the first step would be to journey to The LIbrary of Ohgma for answers. Chapter Four: The Fields of The Dead After arriving at the small town of Drellens Ferry, Ophelia and her companions began the ardous task of deciding on a plan that would safety take them to The Library. In spite of Scanlan's argument that the group ought to simply steal a ship to take them to Novigrad, they decided instead to take the safer route through the Mahakam Mountains in the deep roads. To reach their destination, they decided to buy passage with a trading company passing through town. Though the first few days of travel were relatively uneventful, matters took a turn for the worst when the caravan arrived at The Fields of the Dead; a haunted land allegedy tainted with foul spirits and terrible monsters. After encountering a tree filled with corpses, Ophelia and Crow decided to stay behind in order to cut down the bodies and put the spirits to rest. This proved to be only the start of their troubles. As they continued to travel through the misty lands, Ophelia found herself pursued by ravens and the whispers of her name. A few days into their travels, when Ophelia left the camp to go hunting, she was also attacked by a group of Drowners. During the ensuing conflict, Ophelia discovered that she was capable of imbuing her arrows with a sort of magic; news which she happily shared with the rest of the group upon her return. Her happiness was short lived, however, as the entire caravan was attacked a short time later by a hord of orcs and drowners. Ophelia and her friends managed to defeat the brutal hord, but at the cost of many lives; amongst which was Locag. After a brief funeral, Ophelia sought refuge beside a brook but was beset upon by Damasseus' spell. He put Ophelia into a deep sleep and when he entered her dreams, he warned of his impending arrival and promised he would slaughter her friends if she did not hand herself over freely. Tiberius managed to free her from the spell and, afterwards, Crow offered a surprising solution to their problems. As a prince of Scandavar, he offered to wed Ophelia in order to secure an alliance with his people which could destroy The Veil. Fearing what would become of Crow if she entered into such an arrangement, Ophelia refused the offer. Shortly after, the group fled the small town in which they had taken rest and made their way to Markarth. In spite of the late hour of their arrival, the haggard group managed to persuade the dwarves to bade them enter. Once inside, they found respite in a local inn where their drinks and the price of their rooms were covered after their surprising victory in a drinking competition against some local dwarves. Chapter Five: Two Heads Are Better Than One The following morning, Ophelia found herself confronted with the challenge of passing into Krag's Hammer: a dwarven stronghold which did not take kindly to strangers. She managed to find a sort of solution to her problem after speaking with the innkeeper, agreeing to deliver a shipment of his stout in exchange for an invitation from the innkeeper's cousin. Later that morning, the dragonborn reiterated the offer Crow had made, assuring Ophelia that she could not hope to defeat The Veil unless she prepated for war. In spite of her reluctance, Ophelia agreed to at least entertain the thought. Lacking in coin and supplies, Scanlan also did his part by procuring the group with a contract from the local thane. In exchange for ridding a local gold mine of a mysterious menace and to recover the forekeep's ring, the thane agreed to pay them handsomely. Though irate at Scanlan for signing their names to the contract without first discussing the proposition, the group agreed to the quest. Later in the evening, Ophelia and Crow shared a discussion about his homelands and a surprisingly tender moment. As Ophelia began to seriously entertain the notion of marrying Crow, she tried the ring he had given her on her marriage hand; convincing Scanlan that she had made her choice already. Considerably soured by this, Scanlan continued to lash out against Ophelia as they journeyed to the gold mines and Ophelia was only too happy to retaliate. Their bickering was given pause, however, when they entered the site of the mines to discover the devestation that had been wreaked upon land and dwarves alike. After finding the tracks of her enemies, Ophelia revelead that they were facing a group of goblins, hobgoblins and, worse yet, an Ettin. Though they disagreed bitterly about how best to track and kill the Ettin, they finally agreed to setting a trap for the giant and preparing an ambush. Unfortunately, the quarry they attracted was no the Ettin himself, but the goblins and hobgoblins who fought for him. They unleashed a vicious attack upon the group of monsters before agreeing to search the local mountains for the Etin himself. Thanks to the sharp eyes of Scanlan, they succeeded in this and began to make their way into the trap ridden caves. Though nearly beset upon by every trap imagineable, Scanlan proved his skill once again by dissarming each trap and eventually leading them to a room filled with treasure. While seraching through the treasure, Ophelia and her group found themselves beset upon by the Ettin himself who had hidden himself when they entered the room. Fierce and cunning though he was, he proved no match for the determined group who quickly lay waste to him and sent the remaining goblin who served him fleeing for his life. Though Scanlan was eager to set back for the town, Ophelia and the remainder of the group convinced him that it would be better to set up camp and fortify themselves against the dangers prowling in the mountains. A bitter fight ensued between Scanlan and Ophelia afterwards, during which the thief finally admitted the extent of his feelings for her and kissed her. Hear torn, Ophelia went out into the wilderness to clear her head and procure them dinner. Shortly after setting out, she was attacked by a vicious beast which she identified as a manticore. Though she fought valiantly against the monster, it seemed she would've met her end had it not been for the intervention of a dire bear. After defeating the monster, the beast shapeshifted and carried her back to her camp. When Ophelia awoke, she found she was in the arms of Crow. After the two shared a tender moment, she agreed that she would marry him after all. Chapter Six: Journey Into The Darkness A week after their betrothal, the group had begun to grow weary of waiting when a wagon from Krag Hammer arrived from the deep roads. As Ophelia watched the wagon enter Markarth through a secret door, she found herself confronted by a strange, blind dwarf by the name of Falin. The dwarf informed her that The Great Stone had sent him to be in this place at this time over a year ago and he also persuaded her to attend the meeting in the Thane's hall that evening. Viewing this as an opportunity to perhaps procure the trust and favor of the dwarves, Ophelia and her friends prepared themselves for the meeting. When Ophelia met the Thane in his hall that evening, it was as the princess of Arendell alongside her betrothed, a prince of Scandivar and her counciler, Tiberius. Though the dwarves were reluctant to allow the "outsiders" to aid them, Balthar in particular, Ophelia found she was able to persuade the Thane when Falin intervened and the mark of the champion appeared upon her hand. The following morning, Ophelia was disturbed when Damasseus appeared in her dreams again, nearly managing to seduce her as she slept. Frightened by the dream and worn down by his evil influence, Ophelia found some small comfort when Falin intervened: offering to prepare a potion for Ophelia which would protect her mind from Damasseus' considerable influence. Afterwards, the group met at the edge of the deep roads and set off. The strange roads in the mountains lived up to their reputation of grandeur, but very quickly became more grim and solemn as they journeyed deeper into the mountain's heart. In spite of Tiberius' warning about foul magic being at work, they were nevertheless surprised when they were beset upon by a group of drow when they reached the edge of the bridge. The dwarves and Ophelia's group fought bravely, eventually managing to defeat the drow but at the cost of many dwarven lifes. Though they believed the battle to be at an end, Ophelia found herself caught off guard yet again when another drow attacked, flying away with her to a crevice in the mountain. During the fight which ensued between her and the drow, a cloaked figure intervened and saved Ophelia. He warned Ophelia that Balthor, the dwarf they followed, was a traitor and after returning Ophelia to her people, disappeared into the shadows. Upon arriving at the King's palace in Krag Hammer, Ophelia found her suspicions confirmed when Balthor attempted to dissuade the King from entering into battle against the Orcs that were sieging them. Convinced that he was set on betraying The King or worse, Ophelia informed Crow of the warning the drow had whispered to her. In spite of the grim shadow her suspicions cast, the two managed to share a moment of happiness in a passionate embrace when Ophelia realized the extent of her growing feelings for Crow. Chapter Seven: The Battle of Krag Hammer That evening, Ophelia wasted little time in sharing her suspicions regarding Balthor's treachery with her friends. Divided though they were, the sudden appearance of the drow which had warned her and the affirmation of Ophelia's fear managed to persuade them to at least look for evidence to support their claims. The group divided themselves, with Falin travelling with Scanlan to Balthor's home, Tiberius travelling with Crow to search the wagons and Ophelia accompanying Nim to a local tavern. After procuring the dwarves friendship through generous rounds of ale at their expense, Ophelia and Nim managed to learn a damning story about Balthor's abduction at the hands of The Drow and of the year he spent in their home. In spite of the evidence that Tiberius also managed to find confirming their suspicions, Crow continued to express his reservations: stating that it all seemed to point to Balthor too clearly. Persuaded by Crow's intuition, Ophelia sought to stay her friend's accusations against the dwarf but found that her mind had been changed too late. Spies of the King had overheard her accusations of Balthor's treachery and he was arrested promptly, in spite of Ophelia's protests. When the King then announced his intention of riding out to vanquish the orcs immediately, Ophelia despaired; certain that she had walked into a trap set by the drow and had now assured the dwarves own doom. In spite of this, she took strength upon meeting Balthor in the dungeons. He forgave Ophelia and persuaded her to try and change the King's mind and to send for reinforcements from Rivia. By the time Ophelia went to find the King, it was too late. Already, the King had prepared his men for battle and was riding out. Her pleas that he listen to reason and wait for reinforcements fell on deaf ears. With nothing left to do, Ophelia left with Crow to do what they could to save the city, while Tiberius, Nim and Scanlan remained behind to defend the city's women and children. Falin, however, was strangely absent in the events which unfolded. The battle which ensued was long and bloody. In spite of the chaos and carnage they faced, Ophelia found a surprising ally in nature itself which seemed to rise up around her to defend the dwarves and hamper the armies of orcs. In the heat of the battle, King Hrathnor was slain and many other noble dwarves fell where they fought. Miraculously, however, and in spite of all of the odds: the dwarven armies prevailed. Or so it seemed. Just as victory seemed certain, the face of a strange god and the traiterous drow appeared before Ophelia. He revealed the extent of his treachery and plot to destroy Krag Hammer and also promised to deliver her into the hands of Damasseus. Ophelia fought bitterly against the drow, but was finally bested by him. When he moved to deliver a fatal blow, she was saved suddenly by the intervention of Falin, who revealed that he had been told to wait on this hill by The Great Stone. The battle which ensued between the two was brutal, but brief. When the ground opened up to swallow the drow, Ophelia had but a moment to regain her composure when she realized the orcs had re-gathered their strength and had the alliance of drow and stone giants at their back. Ophelia, Falin and the remaining dwarves retreated into the city. When Ophelia discovered that Scanlan still remained in the deep roads where he had sought to protect the children, Ophelia ran to him and found a happy reunion with her roguish friend. The two fought their way through the drow together, eventually arriving back at The Iron Vaults where they discovered the dwarves had a secret weapon: strange machines the size of giants which managed to mow down an invading drow army, procuring the safety of the dwarves hidden within the vaults. Joined shortly thereafter by Tiberius, Nim, Falin and Balthor himself, the dwarf informed them of his plan to drop the tower and the mountain's cliffface upon the front of Krag Hammer to finally defeat the army at their gates. With Crow remaining behind to lead the retreat, the remainder of the group fought their way up the King's tower only to find the mechanism required to bring the castle down had suffered a malfunction. When an army of the drow led by Klaha and Nerius arrived within the tower room, all hope seemed lost until Nim bravely dove down into the machine itself to do what he could to fix it and ensure their victory. The few in Ophelia's party fought bravely against the invading army even managing to defeat Nerius and Kaha both. Unfortunately, their victory came at a great loss. In the time it took to win the battle against the invaders, Nim had managed to fix the machine but had suffered grievious injuries. He had only breath enough to climb out of the machine before he succumed to his wounds and died in Ophelia's arms. Heartbroken though they were, Balthor rallied the group and convinced them not to let Nim's sacrafice be in vain. Together, they managed to work the machine: sending the castle and the face of the surrounding mountain area down upon what remained of the orc armies. Though the battle was won, it was a bittersweet victory. The dwarves had lost a great many of their people and Ophelia's group had lost a dear friend, or so it would seem. In a turn of events which could only be described as miraculous, Falin managed to revive their fallen comrade, though at a great cost to himself.